Actor/Director Anson William's play
Crazy Mama
opening night was a huge success! Beautiful talented Linda Purl turns in a tour de force award worthy performance playing over fifteen different characters under Anson's great direction. The riveting and poignant play is a true story written by Sharon Scott Williams about life with her mentally ill mother. Singer/Musician Wil Huse is terrific as Bluesman adding a great touch to the show. The star-studded opening night included screen legend Margaret O'Brien, Gregory Harrison, Bruce Davison, Happy Days co-star Don Most, Kathy Garver, Lydia Cornell, Kate Linder Erin Murphy, Moosie Drier and Nancy Dussault. Also joining us was V, partner of 14 years of the late great Judy Tenuta who is missed by all. The preshow party in the Rose Room was a lot of fun, the show was great and after we were whisked up into the hills via vans to an amazing party in the 6,000 square foot Italian Villa di Ameci V owned by Doug Halter & partner Randy Encinas overlooking Ventura. Congratulations and thank you Linda, Anson, Sharon & The Rubican for a great evening! Anson & Linda met on Happy Days decades ago and stayed great friends and co-workers... I was told Ron Howard was on location in Africa and that Henry Winkler was attending another night. Mrs. C now almost 97 was relaxing comfortably at home and is very proud of all her co-stars' achievements...
Speaking of Marion Ross, her talented son of many voices and characters, Jim Meskimen was on hand to present awards Thursday night at The Writers and Illustrators Awards Gala at the beautiful Taglyan Center in Hollywood which is one of California's nicest venues... Randyn C.J. Bartholomew from Brooklyn, NY was named 2025 Grand Prize Writer Winner and Jordan Smajstrla of Boerne, TX was named 2025 Grand Prize Illustrator Winner. On hand to present was also actress Marisol Nichols. Taylor Meskimen, Tyrone Duboise, Jeff Rector also attended, and magician Nathan Phon provided excellent entertainment. Gunhild Jacobs nicely hosted the event. Congratulations to all the talented writers and illustrators from around the world who won prizes. The Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed upon Tim Powers. Keynote speakers Disney's Ron Clements and astronaut Dr. Sian "Leo" Proctor were very inspiring and phenomenal....
Kat Kramer's Films That Change the World & KPFK presented the very far out and interesting doc FAR OUT: Life on and Off the Commune well directed & written by Charles Light. It tells the true story of journalists starting two communes on the east coast in 1968 leading to the anti-nuclear movement of the 1970s which included amazing mega concerts they produced headlining Jackson Browne, Bonnie Rait, Graham Nash, Carly Simon and James Taylor to name a few. Archival footage throughout the doc is great. On the panel hosted by KK after the movie were Charles Light, his wife and composer Patty Carpenter, commune co-founder Harvey "Sluggo" Wasserman, commune resident Judith Rubenstein, and noted actress Mimi Kennedy. Kat suggested dressing like hippies for the event and so many of us did while OG senior hippies were out in full force having fun. Carly Simon's brother noted photographer Peter Simon was one of the commune residents and many of his photos are included in the film. The evening was also presented by Solartopia and Laemmle Theaters.
The International Women's Day Gala also held at The Taglyan was a huge success. Visit
https://youtu.be/imsCsbrb6X4
for an in-depth report hosted by Jennifer Holland Still. The evening was well hosted by the fun duo of Meredith Thomas and Kim Estes.
The beautiful Hollywood Museum opened another great exhibit called Iconic Rides - A Drive Through Time and opening nite was upbeat and high energy... Dukes of Hazards stars Catherine Bach, John Schneider & Tom Womat were on hand to celebrate with their classic vehicles, Scoobie Doo's iconic ride was represented as well as the OG Herbie The Love Bug with Herbie star Michele Lee appearing too.
LAWF opening night at the Barnsdall Theater was beautiful. Thank you to president Adilah Barnes and team. The theme was Stronger Together. Guests dined outside under the stars. The high spirited and spiritual awards gala was hosted by classic Hollywood greats Margaret Avery and Ted Lang who were having a blast playing opposite each other. Audiences were treated to teaser live performances featured in the festival which were very well done. The posthumous Infinity Awards were presented to Mitzi Gaynor & Nancy Cheryll Davis Bellamy, The Eternity Award went to Dawn Didawick, Juanita Jennings received the Integrity Award, Elisa Bocanegra received the Maverick Award and Juli Kim received the Rainbow Award. Congratulations to all!
We mourn the loss of the great actor and artist Val Kilmer. Gone too soon. Please don't smoke or smoke a lot less - his throat cancer didn't kill him, but I'm told smoking contributed to his health problems for many years and he will be missed by millions around the globe. He was a great talent who inspired many, myself included.
Finally, a shot out to Cabaret23 Sings the Classics - The talented singer/performers raised over $2,700 in one evening for Theatre Forty-one of my favorite local theatre companies! Well Done! I'm slowly recovering from my traumatic brain injury caused by an accident almost one year ago. Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts..... It takes longer to write but I believe I still have the light... HH